After what us caregivers have gone through, has anyone looked into long term care insurance for yourselves?

I did get a LTC policy about 10 years ago. It seemed adequate at the time, but costs have gone up so much it probably won't cover more than a few hours in-home care a week. It is no longer adequate, but my husband's chronic illness was very expensive, and I am past retirement age. I just can't afford to increase the coverage. I should look into state partnership policies, I guess.

Chicago, I know when my friend utilized his , the payment he was making stopped. Then his wife has hip replacement, and all of her services and his were covered. Thanks all for the answers!

My Mother's seems to be good. She has been in the nursing home for a little over a year. I am going there next week, so I will ask what she has and how it is covering her, now.

On the other hand I know two ladies that were paying $400/mo. for the same coverage that Medicare already gave them.

My husband and I are 60 and I have discussed this with him. He feels it is too expensive - but his Mother is paying $3,000 a month at AL. So, who knows?

My suspicion is unless you have invested for a long time, you won’t be able to get adequate LTC benefits. My previous attempt of LTC insurance was denied due to sickness. In addition, premium was not affordable. Instead, I am thinking about buying life insurance. I have to keep managing what we have in my household income in order for me to take care of my husband. If he dies before me, I will be in below the poverty guideline. And so, I will have to work to support myself and to maintain property tax obligations. When I become incapable, I will have to find someone who would take care of me till my death in exchange of giving her the property and my life insurance benefits. If I die before my husband, he will continuously getting retirement income plus all what I have including my life insurance benefits. Only the problem is I still do not know who the caregiver would be. Any comments?

Long term care insurance may be expensive but you can always tailor a plan that would suit your budget. If you are married then you can benefit from the spousal long term care insurance discount. Paying for the monthly premiums is easier than to pay a lump sum of amount if you do not have a policy It is important to talk with companies who have good credit rating and financial stability. Here are a few resources about long term care insurance to start with:

http://www.aaltci.org/
http://www.infolongtermcare.org/
http://www.longtermcare.gov/

After seeing the cost of care for loved ones, my husband and I (55, 57) singled up with Mass Mutual policy LTC "shared pot" type policy. We researched several and this was a very good policy. We realize that there are limitations and daily coverages can and may likely change when we need it but frankly, feel it is essential to help offset costs should one of us need care in the future. Like any insurance policy, you are banking on the risk, but it is a way to offset some costs and preserve assets for awhile. It isn't easy to compare policies so do your research and also visit some care facilities and see what their costs are and how LTC works for them so you have a good understanding of what works and what areas fall short.

In my mind, if you are middle age, and with all of us living longer and longer it is a necessary protection to preserve assets for your spouse at least for a time. I know it's not cheap....and frankly, I hope I never need it but I feel better knowing I have it.

I'd love to have it, but when I was younger I could not begin to determine what we "might" need down the road, the policies are confusing as heck! And now it is so expensive it blows my mind. Darned if you didn't and darned if you cant...

LTC is a fixed payout, so why bother? If you know how long you'll be sick and exactly when you will die, then it's a good investment.

Consumer Reports, which does not accept advertising, printed a report in August 2012 about long term care insurance. You can probably find it at consumerreports.org. It discusses what to look for if you are considering a policy, and describes the various options. This is a confusing product and not all policies are right for an individual's situation. I like getting information from a source that is not trying to sell me something.

One concern I have about these partnership programs is the effect the baby boomer generation will have on them. Sometimes state programs run out of money and end. We had it happen here with an education savings program in Alabama -- I don't know the technicalities. What if we paid some thousands over time into the programs, only to have them end when we get near the time we might need them. I don't know if that could happen or not. I never completely trust government things when it comes to money.

Sadly, it is too expensive for me. I've heard stories about how little they end up covering in the end, so I don't know if it is worthwhile. Something people may be interested in is the partnership programs that states have. It is Medicaid, but if you pay into the program you don't have to spend down to qualify if LTC is needed. The main drawback here is that you can only live in places that will accept Medicaid.